Lawyers for Ex-Trump Campaign Chief Manafort Argue for Leniency

Lawyers for Ex-Trump Campaign Chief Manafort Argue for Leniency

March 1, 2019, 8:28 PM

Lawyers for Ex-Trump Campaign Chief Manafort Argue for Leniency

FILE - Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves U.S. District Court after a hearing in Washington, May 23, 2018.
FILE – Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves U.S. District Court after a hearing in Washington, May 23, 2018.

WASHINGTON —

Lawyers for President Donald Trump’s former campaign chief Paul Manafort urged a judge Friday to impose a sentence “substantially below” the potential 19 to 24 years in prison he is facing for tax crimes and bank fraud.

Manafort, 69, is to be sentenced March 7 by Judge T.S. Ellis of the Eastern District of Virginia after being convicted of five counts of filing false income tax returns, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failing to report a foreign bank account.

Manafort’s attorneys, in a filing with the judge, said the sentencing guidelines, which call for a prison term of 235 to 293 months, are “clearly disproportionate to the offense conduct for which Mr. Manafort was convicted.”

“Mr. Manafort acknowledges that he received a fair trial before this Court, he accepts the jury’s verdict, and is truly remorseful for his conduct,” they said.

A 'bold criminal'

His attorneys suggested a “sentence substantially below the range,” arguing that Manafort is a first-time offender and is in poor health after spending the past nine months in prison.

Manafort is one of seven former Trump associates and senior aides who have been charged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, which is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

Mueller’s office said in their own sentencing memo that Manafort was a “bold” criminal who “repeatedly and brazenly” broke the law but did not recommend a specific sentence.

Mueller’s office said that Manafort violated the law for years and his sentence “must take into account the gravity of this conduct,” to deter both Manafort and anyone else who would commit similar crimes.

“His criminal actions were bold,” Mueller’s office said, and included attempting to tamper with witnesses and lying to the FBI, government agencies and even his own lawyers.

Ukraine campaign work

Manafort’s attorneys took issue with that characterization.

“The Special Counsel’s attempt to vilify Mr. Manafort as a lifelong and irredeemable felon is beyond the pale and grossly overstates the facts before this Court,” they said.

“The cases that Special Counsel have brought against Mr. Manafort have devastated him personally, professionally and financially,” they said.

The charges against Manafort were not connected to his role in the Trump campaign but were for work he did for Russian-backed political parties in Ukraine between 2004 and 2014.

Manafort was also charged in Washington with money laundering, witness tampering and other offenses and faces separate sentencing in that case.

Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with Moscow and denounced the probe by Mueller, a former FBI director, as a “political witch hunt.”

Original Article

WATCH THE AMERICAN SUNRISE SHOW M-F AT 8AM ET.

WATCH THE LATEST EDITION OF WAR ROOM WITH STEVE BANNON

CATCH THE LATEST STEVE GRUBER SHOW

CATCH THE LATEST AMERICA'S VOICE LIVE SHOW

WATCH THE LATEST COWBOY LOGIC BARN PARTY SHOW

CATCH THE LATEST BREAKING POINT SHOW WITH DAVID ZERE

WATCH THE LATEST EDITION OF SECURING AMERICA WITH FRANK GAFFNEY

WATCH RAV'S SPECIAL REPORT M-5 AT 4PM ET.

WATCH RAV'S ELECTION NIGHT 2024 LIVE COVERAGE

WATCH ON RUMBLE WATCH ON GETTR

JOIN US IN LIVE CHAT 24/7 ON RUMBLE

JOIN US ON OUR 24/7 LIVE RUMBLE STREAM